"Don't you dare dig up the money I worked so hard for, you tomb robbers!"
The words ripped from Nami's throat as she shot upright in her sickbed, her fury a live wire in the room. Her sudden awakening and outburst startled everyone. No one had expected the navigator to recover so quickly. Tears streamed down her face as she stared, horrified, at the Sky Screen. The projection showed a chaotic scene of excavation, with small carts and machinery hauling treasure out of a massive underground mausoleum. It was a macabre scene, the plunder of her own future wealth playing out for the entire world to see. It felt to her as if they were digging up her very flesh and blood.
"Leave some for me!" she screamed, her voice cracking. "Don't take it all away!"
"This is too much! They're even moving the coffin!" Nami sobbed. "You're not human, you robbers!"
On the screen, a group of workers were using strange, futuristic machines to lift her coffin. It was a single, massive piece of wood from an Adam Tree, weighing several tons, yet it was being hoisted with ease. The sight of the hundreds of dazzling gems and more than twenty Devil Fruits adorning it only twisted the knife in her heart. Nami's soul was bleeding. The nightmare of her grave being plundered was too much to bear. She wished she had never woken up.
"This must be a dream," she whispered, pulling the covers up to her chin. "I'll just go back to sleep. This future is not real. It can't be mine." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force herself back into unconsciousness, but the pain and hopelessness were a cold weight in her chest.
Usopp, ever the chatterbox, broke the heavy silence. "Nami, you didn't take all of our money, did you? We have so many treasures..."
Before he could finish, Nami's fist of fury found its target, leaving a sizable lump on his head. "Shut up!" she roared. "That's my money! It has nothing to do with you! It's mine!" She used what strength she had to declare ownership of her future fortune. Even if her grave were to be ransacked, it was a treasure that awaited her in a future that was, in its own way, incredibly bright.
Forgetting her earlier despair, Nami's mind went to work, calculating how she could set a giant gem on her hand. Her sadness was replaced by the beautiful fantasy of her future wealth, her eyes gleaming with greed.
Sanji, who had been listening from his own bed, sat up, a cigarette in his mouth, his thoughts turning to his own future. He was a gentleman, and he knew that if Miss Nami was able to amass such a vast treasure, he and his crewmates would surely get a share. "Usopp, use your brain," he said, flicking his cigarette. "Even if Nami takes 99% of the treasure, 1% of a trillion Beri is more than enough for us to live on for several lifetimes. Anyone got a lighter? I need one."
"Mr. Sanji, your injury isn't healed yet. You can't smoke or drink," a small voice piped up.
Sanji was so startled by the talking blue-nosed creature that he leaped out of bed. "A talking tanuki!" he yelped, having been unconscious when Chopper was introduced.
"I told you I'm a reindeer, not a tanuki!" Chopper's small form shifted, transforming into his two-meter-tall human form. He gently but firmly pushed Sanji back onto the bed, a doctor's discipline in his actions. He couldn't have the patient's condition worsening.
Princess Vivi, as the sole heir of the Kingdom of Arabasta, was lost in the calculations. She tried to compare ten trillion to her own country's treasury, but the numbers were too abstract. She had no idea how much wealth her kingdom possessed.
Noticing her conflicted expression, Igaram stepped forward to explain. "Your Highness, due to the severe drought, our country's tax revenue has plummeted. In previous years, the total tax revenue was roughly two hundred billion. Ten trillion is equivalent to the total tax revenue of the Kingdom of Arabasta for five thousand years."
The number hung in the air, a stark and staggering reality. The Kingdom of Arabasta, a massive nation with a population of nearly a million and an army of sixty thousand, would take five thousand years of its tax revenue to match the value of Nami's burial goods.
"That's a lot of money," Luffy said simply, his mind still stuck on the most basic of concepts. "I can eat meat for the rest of my life." As captain, he didn't care about money, and the financial power of the Straw Hat Pirates was already firmly in Nami's hands.
"Five thousand years of tax?" Vivi repeated, a sense of inadequacy washing over her. She looked at the display of Nami's future burial specifications, a pang of jealousy in her heart. The Nefertari family was one of the original twenty who founded the World Government, yet their royal burial traditions seemed humble compared to the legendary navigator's.
Just as Chopper was mentally tallying how much cotton candy he could buy with ten trillion, Doctor Kureha grabbed him from behind and placed the little reindeer into Nami's arms. "Take Chopper to sea with you," she said, her voice softer than anyone had ever heard it. "He's wasting his life staying on Drum Island."
She then looked at Chopper, her stern demeanor returning. "Little fool, I've taught you a lot. Don't you dare forget to come back and take care of me in my old age. I don't want to be treating patients for money when I'm old and can't walk. If you give me just a little of your future treasure, it'll be enough for me to live my whole life."
Nami hugged the furry little doctor, an expression of sheer bliss on her face. Sanji, in his bed, watched with a mixture of envy and longing, wishing he could feel that warmth instead of the little reindeer. Chopper's coat was incredibly soft, and he smelled like nothing more than fresh snow. Nami, still feverish and feeling a chill, held him tight, soaking in the warmth.
Unnoticed by everyone but Eren, tears welled in Chopper's eyes. He looked up at Kureha, his expression a mix of confusion and hurt. The sudden, matter-of-fact way she was abandoning him was difficult for his childish mind to process.
Kureha saw the shift in his expression. She raised her hand and gently stroked his head. "Don't think so much, you fool," she said, her tone gentle. "Going to sea is an agreement you made with Doctor Hiluluk. This group of pirates is perfect for you. They won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. Straw Hat Luffy is a good man. I feel at ease entrusting you to him."
She was making the decision for him, knowing he would be too conflicted to leave on his own. She knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her apprentice, and it was a gift to him—a pirate crew as bright and promising as this one was the stuff of legends.
"Doctor," Nami said, burying her face in the soft fur of Chopper's neck. "Luffy and I will take good care of him. He is our most important partner." She was petting a reindeer, not a cat, but it felt the same, and she was already in love with the little doctor.
Under Nami's passionate embrace, Chopper's inexperienced heart surrendered. He pictured his future adventures at sea with his new friends, and his eyes filled with tears of pure excitement, a wide, joyous smile spreading across his face. He hadn't felt this happy since the day Doctor Hiluluk died.
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